The Endline

15 great goals from the World Cup. I was fortunate enough to watch the Luis Fabiano goal in 3-D and it was pretty amazing. Do you agree with all of them? Is there a goal that you think is missing?

I have to admit that I forgot about a few of these. Here’s the list:
15 – Tshabalala vs Mexico
14- Endo vs Denmark
13- Luis Fabiano vs Ivory Coast
12- Forlán vs South Africa
11- Forlán vs Ghana
10- Maicon vs Korea DPR
9- David Villa vs Chile
8- Forlan vs Germany
7- David Villa vs Honduras
6- Ozil vs …

Diego Forlan was deservedly awarded the adidas Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament. Here is an interview with the Golden Ball winner. See his highlights here.
adidas Golden Ball: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Diego Forlan has been named Best Player at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Uruguay striker topped the prestigious poll of accredited media representatives ahead of the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder and Spain hitman David Villa. The 31-year-old Forlan took the starring role in his country’s heroic performance at the FIFA World Cup …

I said it yesterday on Facebook and I’m still standing behind my statement that Uruguay vs Germany would have made a better final. The Dutch looked great coming into the tournament but they never really seemed to hit their stride. Meanwhile, Spain dug out result after result of 1-0 wins in the knockout stages. Yes, they dominate possesion and knock the ball around, but they play super boring football… and don’t even get me started on how much they dive. At least get touched before you go down! If only …

It seems everyone is making predictions on who will win the World Cup. Paul the Octopus has been the most famous but this is his first match to predict that doesn’t involve Germany. From Paul to Video Games, everyone is getting in on the act.

So who do you think will win? Make your predictions in the comments section.

Via AP
In pouring rain on a ragged field, Germany and Uruguay staged a match entertaining enough to be for the World Cup title.
Too bad it was only for third place.
Sami Khedira scored in the 82nd minute to give Germany a 3-2 victory and third place for the second straight World Cup. But the Germans had to survive a final-second free kick by Uruguay star striker Diego Forlan from just outside the penalty area. It ricocheted off the crossbar, and the whistle sounded.
Rain-soaked players shook hands and awaited a medals ceremony …

FIFA announced on Friday their nominees for the Golden Ball (the best player in the tournament).
The characteristics of the ten best players for the adidas Golden Ball as identified by the FIFA Technical Study Group (in alphabetical order):
Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Architect of the team’s attack, very influential, great impact for his team, provider of quality final passes, goal scorer, set pieces/shots from long range
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Huge work rate, efficient, good dribbler, creates problems to each defence, good goal scorer
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Very fine ball-playing attacking …

I thought Germany had been the best team in the tournament .

Game Notes
• Spain reached its first World Cup final and will face the Netherlands on Sunday (1:30 ET on ABC).
• It will be the first final since 1978 Argentina-Netherlands between two teams that have not won a title.
• Spain is the fourth team to reach the final after losing its opener, and the first since 1994 Italy. No team has won the World Cup after losing its opener.
• This was the 29th game decided by …

Uruguay certainly know how to keep it interesting. Another entertaining match from South Africa.

This game is up there as one of the all time best finishes in a World Cup match. Watch for yourself…I don’t want to ruin it for you.

This game was definitely one of the two premier quarterfinal matchups. Consensus was that whoever wins this game should move on to the finals.

branether

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